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On Wednesday, the “Wal-Mart Sweatshop Workers Speaking Tour“–featuring two workers who supply clothing and food sold at Wal-Mart–stopped in West Michigan at Grand Valley State University (GVSU). The West Michigan stop is part of a larger tour of the Midwest that brought two workers–one from Costa Rica and one from Cambodia–to build support for Michigan and Ohio to join the State and Local Government Sweatfree Consortium. The tour focuses on Wal-Mart because they are the biggest retail store in the United States and as such are the largest user of sweatshop labor. Overall, it offered valuable insight into both conditions in sweatshops and some ways in which they can be challenged.

The first speaker, Didier Lifton, is a union organizer from Costa Rica. He worked on banana plantations for several years before being fired for union organizing in 2000. Since that time, he has observed working conditions on banana plantations across the country and has found that conditions are extremely bad. Workers are paid low wages (below the Costa Rican minimum wage of $280 per month) and are exposed to a variety of hazards including sun and poisonous chemicals. Even when workers do get the minimum wage–which is rare–it often covers only 50% of the necessities (food, shelter, clothing) needed. In addition to the banana plantations, he also said that conditions are similar on pineapple plantations and that pineapple plantations–in part due to growing demand from Wal-Mart–are increasing. Lifton told the audience that this has meant increased deforestation and that he has witnessed a company clearing 100,000 acres in a year.

Phal Savin spoke next and told of her work in Cambodia sewing clothing for Wal-Mart and her firing for union organizing. Her story was similar to Lifton’s, telling the audience of wages that could not cover the basic necessities of life and intimidation tactics used to dissuade workers from organizing to improve their conditions. Savin told the audience that workers at her factory were frequently forced to work overtime when there were orders, and that when there were not orders, workers were sent home early resulting in inconsistent wages. She said that she could make anywhere from $15-$25 per month and that she was basically treated like a slave. She said that while Wal-Mart does theoretically do audits of working conditions and pay at its factories, the owners control what the auditors see and only allow them to speak to friendly workers.

Finally, a representative of Sweat Free Communities spoke about the need for people in the United States to take action. She urged people to “shop with a conscience” but also spoke about the need to get active in organized struggles. She urged the audience to become a part of a campaign to get Michigan to join the Sweatfree Consortium. The Consortium is a policy designed to insure that government procurement orders are filled via factories that are not sweatshops. The campaign says that many governments–including Michigan who spends $40 million per year on boots and uniforms–are subsidizing sweatshops.